The 16th Amendment & The Individual Income Tax

There are few people alive today in America who have not lived under the oppressive tax system we call the Federal Income Tax. The Federal Income Tax came into being during the first part of the 20^th century with the passage of the 16^th amendment. The amendment was first proposed during the Taft administration, (1-16-1909), in response to the public concerns over too few people having the wealth of the nation consolidated in their hands. The amendment was finally ratified by the required ¾ of the states on January 25, 1913 and thus the Internal Revenue Service came back into existence. Back into existence, you say? Yes, the IRS actually came into being during the Civil War during the Lincoln Administration, but that is another story.

The 16^th Amendment

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

So what can be done about the Federal income tax and its ever expanding reach into our homes and lives? There have been a number of proposals over the years to help “even out the playing field” or in other words, help make the tax code “fair” to all parties, but in reality, the current tax code is nothing more than a series of tweeks that allow one party or another to influence the Congress and build in a “special” break in the tax code that will apply to themselves or favored parties. Why do you think that most who are in Congress leave far richer than when they first entered?

The proposals that have been made to overhaul or even scrap the Federal Income Tax code include the “Flat Tax” or the “Fair Tax”, but in reality neither plan can or will ever come to frutrition due to the ever increasing number of polititians, public servents and receipients of entitlements that permiate the nation. These receipients have grown so large in numbers that they now consist of nearly half of the United States voting population. So with any election hinging on the slim margin of 6 % between those who produce and those who consume, it really doesn’t take much to push an election one way or another. The elections of 2010 was an example of that, when TEA Party activists and a sluggish economy were able to swing the government from one party rule to the current stalemate we are now experiencing.

So as you compile your yearly report of productivity to the Internal Revenue Service, also known as Form 1040, be sure to thank those who represent us with the convoluted mess we now know as the United States Tax Code. A tax code that numbers in the tens of thousands of pages and costs the nation billions of dollars in productivity each year. In fact, in the year 2002 it cost nealy $194 Billion Dollars or $0.20 for every $ 1.00 collected in personal income taxes for the people of this nation to complete all of the required paperwork and reporting requirements required by the IRS.

That is more than the cost of what the Federal Government spends on infrastructure and education combined.

Enjoy!